Campaigners against abortion have criticised the Minister for Health for issuing new service guidelines due to the Covid-19 emergency.
Currently, services for termination in early pregnancy require a medical practitioner to examine a pregnant woman before coming to the reasonable opinion that her pregnancy has not exceeded 12 weeks.
In that context, the woman is required to attend the surgery/clinical setting to have a face-to-face consultation with her doctor.
However, the Department of Health has pointed out that it may not be possible or advisable for a woman to attend a medical practitioner in person to access termination in early pregnancy.